Compressible Flow in a Nozzle

Problem Specification

Consider air flowing at high-speed through a convergent-divergent nozzle having a circular cross-sectional area, A, that varies with axial
distance from the throat, x, according to the formula

A = 0.1 + x2; -0.5 < x < 0.5

where A is in square meters and x is in meters. The stagnation pressure p o  at the inlet is 101,325 Pa. The stagnation temperature T o  at the
inlet is 300 K. The static pressure pat the exit is 3,738.9 Pa. We will calculate the Mach number, pressure and temperature distribution in
the nozzle using FLUENT and compare the solution to quasi-1D nozzle flow results. The Reynolds number for this high-speed flow is
large. So we expect viscous effects to be confined to a small region close to the wall. So it is reasonable to model the flow as inviscid. 

Pre-Analysis & Start-Up

Open ANSYS Workbench

We are ready to do a simulation in ANSYS Workbench! Open ANSYS Workbench by going to Start > ANSYS > Workbench. This will
open the start up screen seen as seen below
Screen Management
This tutorial is designed such that the user can have both ANSYS Workbench and the tutorial open. As shown below, this online tutorial
should fill approximately 1/3 of the screen, while ANSYS Workbench fills the remaining 2/3 of the screen.

Setup Project
To begin, we need to tell ANSYS what kind of simulation we are doing. If you look to the left of the start up window, you will see the
Toolbox Window. Take a look through the different selections. We will be using FLUENT to complete the simulation. Load the Fluid
Flow (FLUENT) box by dragging and dropping it into the Project Schematic.

Right click the top box of the project schematic   and go to Rename, and name the project Compressible Flow in
a Nozzle.You are ready to create the geometry for the simulation. 

Geometry

We only need to model half of the nozzle cross-section because it can be solved using the axisymmetric solver in FLUENT. The 2D
axisymmetric geometry has 4 edges; we will need to import a coordinate file to create the diverging-converging nozzle wall. Please
download the coordinates file and make sure you understand the content before you proceed to the video.
 Coordinates File
You should see five columns of data in the coordinates file.
The first column is the Group number . The coordinates data are assigned to groups to distinguish edges.
The second column is the Group ID . Each set of coordinate needs to be assigned an ID so they can be imported in the correct order.
The third column is the x coordinate . It varies from -0.5 to 0.5 , as shown in the problem statement.
The fourth column is the y coordinate . The y coordinate (radial coordinate) can be written as the radius of the nozzle in terms of
nozzle cross section area: A = pi*r^2 .
The last column is the z coordinate . Although we are working with a 2D model, the tool we will use to import the coordinates requires
coordinates in all three directions. We can conveniently set the z coordinates to 0 .

The coordinates in the text file need to be grouped in a way that the end coordinate of a group must be the start coordinate of the next group. For in
of group 1 is (0.5 0.333778669, 0) is the same as the start coordinate of group 2.

Create the Geometry

Summary of the above video:

1. Drag Fluid Flow (FLUENT) to the Project Schematic
1. Rename it 2D Nozzle
2. Right click on Geometry > Properties
1. Under Advanced Geometry
2. Analysis Type > 2D
3. Double click on Geometry to open up Design Modeler
4. Select Meters as Units
5. Go to Top Menu and click on Concept > 3D curve
1. For Coordinate File > Browse and select nozzle coordinates.txt
6. Click on the Zoom to Fit icon
1. click on the Z axis arrow on the bottom right
7. Click on Concept > Surfaces (Edges)
 1. Click on all four edges
2. Apply
8. Generate

Note that while following the video above, you can select the 4 edges to create a surface in two ways:

1. By holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on the 4 edges in turn.

2. By "painting" over the 4 edges i.e. ragging the left mouse button over the four edges. This feature is called paint select.

Suppress line bodies

You need to suppress the line bodies before moving on, otherwise you might get an error later. Right click on each line body and
select Suppress Body as shown below. Then, save your project before moving to the next step.

 
Mesh

The following video will show you how the mesh was created:
Create the mesh for the 2D compressible nozzle

Summary of the above video:

1. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Mapped Face Meshing

2. Click on face of the geometry > Apply
3. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Facing
4. Click on Select Body icon > click on geometry > Apply
5. Under Element Size enter 0.025 m
6. Generate

After creating the surface, name each of the edges of the surface. Do this by using the edge selection tool, right clicking on the line that
you want to name, the left clicking this same line, selecting 'Named Selections' and typing in your desired name, then click the 'Generate'
symbol to generate that named selection. You will want to name the pressure inlet, the outlet, the nozzle wall, and the axis.

Physics Setup

The following video will walk you through specifying the governing equations and boundary conditions for our analysis. 
Cornell FLUENT: Compressible Flow in a Nozzle: Setup

Note: If using a different fluid than air, you must assign the material under the cell zone conditions. Do this by going to Cell Zone
Conditions, clicking on 'surface body', selecting the material name that you want, and click OK.

Numerical Solution

The following video will walk you through setting up the solution for our analysis.
Cornell FLUENT: Compressible Flow in a Nozzle: Solution

Numerical Results

Post-processing using CFD Post

The following video shows you how to make a plot of Mach no. variation along the axis & wall and compare to the quasi-1D analytical
solution. Before proceeding to the video,download this csv  file which contains Mach no. vs. x obtained from the quasi-1D solution. Place
the csv file in your working folder with the main .wbpj file. 
SimCafe: Nozzle in ANSYS FLUENT, Mach No.
Below is our plot generated in CFD Post. 

Post-processing using the FLUENT Post-Processor

The following video will walk you through looking at the results of the analysis.

Cornell FLUENT: Compressible Flow in a Nozzle: Results

In order to make plots comparing the Fluent results with the corresponding analytical results, it is recommended that you export the data
from FLUENT into Excel or MATLAB and make the plots in Excel or MATLAB. You can export data in a FLUENT "XY Plot" into a
text file using the Write to file option. The following video walks you through the process of exporting the Mach number variation
along x to a text file and reading in the Mach number values into Excel.

Write to file in FLUENT